Chapter 1

I stood in the rain, silently watching my fiancé, Carlo Vitale.

I watched as he personally slid the wedding ring onto my stepsister Sophia’s finger.

Sophia was wearing a custom-made designer wedding gown and smiling beautifully.

The moment the ring was on her hand, Carlo pulled her into his arms without hesitation.

Members of the family surrounded them, along with so-called friends I once knew, all cheering them on.

They kissed for nearly ten minutes. Only when Sophia was so weak in the knees that she could barely stand did Carlo finally pull away, breathless.

Rain slid down my hair, blurring my vision.

However, I could not shake off the image of the man I had loved for twelve years kissing the woman who used to bully me.

Memories surged back like a tide.

I first met Carlo when I was sixteen.

He was the son of my father’s business partner. He was only eighteen at the time, but he was already carrying the aura of a future don.

That day, my father was about to hit me again. Carlo stepped in front of me. A broken glass bottle slashed a long wound across his arm.

Blood ran down his arm, but he only turned to me and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

No one remembered my eighteenth birthday.

He was the only one who stayed by my side the entire night.

He did not say much, just draped his coat over my shoulders.

When the light of dawn came, he said, “Elena, I’ll protect you from now on.”

At twenty-two, I graduated from university.

He appeared in the last row of the auditorium, holding a bouquet of white roses.

He confessed, “I like you. Be with me. I’ll protect you from now on.”

I thought he loved me.

It turned out it was all just my wishful thinking.

Sophia threw the bridal bouquet.

Everyone rushed forward to catch it.

That was when I realized my family was at the wedding, too.

My younger brother Michael, whom I once risked my life to protect, was standing there and smiling. His entire attention was fixed on Sophia—the same woman who once tormented him.

He had already forgotten how we almost died at the hands of Sophia and her mother years ago.

I still remembered it clearly.

I was only ten when Sophia and her mother first came into our home.

They acted gentle and kind in front of my father, but the moment he left, they locked Michael and me in the basement.

Michael had a fever, so I begged them for medicine. Sophia’s mother kicked me in the chest and said, “Your mother is dead. Why don’t you join her in Hell?”

Sophia stood beside her, putting on a sweet smile. “Please don’t blame my mother, Elena. You were just being disobedient.”

One day, Michael fell and hit his head, causing him to lose his memory.

It was Sophia who pushed him, but she cried and blamed me instead.

When Michael woke up, he remembered only the one month Sophia had taken care of him, and from then on, he was completely devoted to her.

I told Carlo all of this.

He thought I was lying.

“Congratulations to the bride and groom!”

Michael and the others shouted.

As he spoke, fireworks were lit outside the church.

Under the sky full of fireworks, Carlo lifted Sophia into his arms.

The crowd roared with cheers all around.

I stood in the drizzle, suffocating in despair.

I dialed Michael’s number.

The brother who once swore he would always stand by me glanced at the screen and hung up immediately.

I did not stop. I called Carlo.

The moment he saw it was me, his face turned cold.

He was about to hang up, but Sophia whispered something in his ear. Only then did he reluctantly answer.

I asked in a soft voice, “Where are you?”

He sneered in front of everyone.

“What, checking up on me again? You’re pregnant, yet you still can’t behave? Elena, are you that desperate for a man?

“Can’t you live without a man?

“I already told you, I’m with Sophia because of some family business. Only someone as filthy-minded as you can twist everything into something dirty!”

Every word cut like a knife.

The last thread of hope in my heart made me choke out,

“But Carlo, it’s my birthday today…”

He promised me that he would spend my birthday with me no matter what happened.

Thus, even though he was two hundred miles away, I changed trains several times and walked a mile in the rain just to find him.

Carlo seemed to finally remember.

Silence fell on the other end of the line.

Before he could speak, the phone was snatched away.

“Can you stop being so disgusting, Elena?” snapped Michael.

“Do you think everyone is as obsessed with this nonsense as you are?

“Stop causing trouble! Do you even know how important today is?

“Stop doing stupid things and making others clean up your mess!”

He hung up.

Sophia leaned into Carlo’s arms, smiling gently.

She patted Michael’s head.

“All right. You all know what kind of person Elena is.

“Today is the most important day of my life. Be good, okay? Smile.”

That was all it took to calm Michael down.

The group headed back, laughing and celebrating.

The noise faded, leaving me alone in the dark, silent night.

I felt discarded and unwanted.

I wiped away my last tear.

Then, I turned and walked away.

I no longer wanted the man whose cold heart I had tried to warm for twelve years.